The present invention generally relates to magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatuses operable with adapters for miniature type tape cassettes, and more particularly to a magnetic recording and/or reproducing apparatus which is conveniently arranged for carrying out recording and/or reproduction by use of an adapter for accommodating the miniature type tape cassette, with respect to the miniature type tape cassette which is smaller than a standard type tape cassette.
A tape cassette which is smaller than a standard type tape cassette, was previously proposed in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 339,671 filed Jan. 15, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,432,510, in which the assignee is the same as the assignee of the present application. Further, an adapter for the miniature type tape cassette, which is used when loading the miniature type tape cassette into a standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus, was previously proposed in a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 340,105 filed Jan. 18, 1982, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,477,850, in which the assignee is the same as the assignee of the present application. The adapter was designed to accommodate the miniature type tape cassette. When a tape loading operation was performed with respect to the miniature type tape cassette accommodated within the adapter, a predetermined tape path was formed at the front of the adapter. This predetermined tape path at the front of the adapter, corresponded to the tape path at the front of the standard type tape cassette. The adapter accommodating the miniature type tape cassette and having the predetermined tape path at the front thereof, was loaded into a standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus as in the case of the standard type tape cassette.
A conventional standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus, was not conveniently arranged for playing the adapter which accommodates the miniature type tape cassette. Thus, when the operator wanted to change the miniature type tape cassette which is being played on the conventional standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus to another miniature type tape cassette, the adapter had to be once unloaded from the standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Then, the miniature type tape cassette accommodated within the unloaded adapter was changed to the other miniature type tape cassette, and the adapter accommodating the other miniature type tape cassette was again loaded into the standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Hence, especially when the miniature type tape cassette accommodated within the adapter had to be changed successively a plurality of times, it was necessary to repeat an operation in which the adapter is unloaded from the standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus, the miniature type tape cassette accommodated within the unloaded adapter is changed to a different miniature type tape cassette, and the adapter accommodating the different miniature type tape cassette is again loaded into the standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus. Therefore, there was a problem in that it was necessary to perform troublesome operations in order to successively play a plurality of miniature type tape cassettes on the conventional standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus by use of the adapter.
Further, there was a problem in that the miniature type tape cassette accommodated within the adapter could not be changed quickly, because the loaded adapter had to be once unloaded from the conventional standard type recording and/or reproducing apparatus in order to change the miniature type tape cassette. As a result, the recording and/or reproduction was interrupted for a long period of time while the miniature type tape cassette was being changed.